Eno's ambient albums (1975 and up)

Why do you leave out the Fripp collaborations?

Apollo for me. But to be fair, I don't think I've heard any of these in their entirety post-85

Well Fripp & Eno's albums weren't listed in Wikipedia's ambient list, but then Wikipedia isn't always the most accurate source for info. I also think they were before Eno "invented" ambient.

Even so, I probably should have included them. Oh well...

I hovered over Apollo, but then went with Discreet Music. It's hard though, because the ambient eno discs I listen to most are the ones from the Instrumental box set, and they cover bits of pretty much everything here.

Discreet Music wins for me though because the Reich-like system music concept is great, and yet it still feels very organic. And it all sounds lovely.

Discreet Music

Apollo

Since they slipped past me, would anyone have voted for any of Eno & Fripp's albums if I had included them?

Tough poll though. Fourth Worlds are esp. good, but tons of gold here.

Evening Star is my favourite of what I do know but I haven't heard a lot of these albums.

No Pussyfooting.

Ambient #1 / Music for Airports

I could go for at least 5 of these, depending on the day. My favorite most of the time is Apollo.

neroli and the instrumental box are missing.

as is january 07003: bell studies for the clock of the long now

No offense to those who pick it, but <i>Apollo</i> is too easy -- yes, it's MELODIC and soft and pretty, but it's also not nearly as sophisticated or evocative as Eno's best ambient work.

Frankly, the best is probably <i>On Land</i>, but at this moment <i>Music For Films</i>, if only b/c the CS-80 textures are sublime and otherworldly.

Airports

Voted the first option although the ones I like best are "Another Green World" and "Before And After Science" and I don't count those two as pop albums.

ambient 4 immediately comes to mind as the best one, i think.

"No offense to those who pick it, but <i>Apollo</i> is too easy -- yes, it's MELODIC and soft and pretty, but it's also not nearly as sophisticated or evocative as Eno's best ambient work."

Yeah it's not really an ambient album at all, is it (even though it's my favorite album on this list and I voted for it.) I mean neither are a lot of the Hassell things either. Instrumental /= ambient.

I listen to Discreet Music and Apollo more often than the first Fourth World, but every time I return to the latter I'm amazed how subtle its simplicity is.

Yeah I probably should have taken out the Hasell albums, but there's just no way you can't call Apollo an ambient album. I mean SAWII and Substrata are much melodic than anything on Apollo, and they are always listed as ambient albums. The only song on there that isn't ambient is "Silver Morning" and it was written by Lanois himself (I never quite understood why Eno allowed that track on there to open side two, as I always skip it).

i'd vote for "airports" because i think it's exquisite, but i've heard so little of the rest ("on land" is the only other one, i think) that i don't really think i'm qualified to have an opinion here.

Fuckin BBcode.

Anyway, I'm not saying Apollo isn't ambient -- I'm just saying it's kind of "pop" ambient and a little facile in places. A great record--I used some of it for my wedding--but if we're talking "Eno's Great Ambient Records" -- it seems a little like taking choosing the pop album in the bunch.

No Pussyfooting would probably have been my 3rd choice. And January 07003: Bell Studies for the Clock of the Long Now might have been my fourth actually, it's a lovely record which came out long after he was supposed to have lost it.

'airports' is quite nice, but i think tracks 2 & 3 are a little weak. i think the voices are a bit of a weak spot in general on 'airports'. the first and last pieces are the only reasons i'd consider 'airports' as one of his best.

but yea, for me it's all about ambient 4.

Yeah, I like Track 3 but it doesn't compare to the first and last (and it also makes the second track totally obselete and useless to me). Airports definitely doesn't deserve to be the only ambient album to receive 5 stars on AMG.

I'm just saying it's kind of "pop" ambient and a little facile in places

OTM. You're the first person to ever say this. The twangy Lanois stuff is what I had in mind.

It's funny to see Fourth World identified as "with John Hassell" since he has always said it was his record and Eno produced and played on it (guess that was the start of some animosity between them). But yeah, that is a very cool record, but not really ambient. I voted for Discreet Music, I could listen to that title track forever. I have the LP, and I forget the first side is 30 minutes -- crazy to get that much music on one side of an LP. What a mastering job that was.

on land followed by plateaux of mirror and music for films. i have never listened to that fourth world release, should i? discreet music bores the hell out of me. it did at least when i listened to it 30 years ago. the minimalism killed me. i could only listen to it by not paying attention to it. but even then it was annoying. who would have thought that eno would make so many amazing records in a similar style in the next 10 years? i think i heard that pachelbel canon first on discreet music. what a divine piece of music.

Since ambient is by it's very nature very quiet, they could easily narrow the grooves and fit the entire Discreet Music track in without sacrificing sound quality (The Cure I think did this also with Disintegration when it should have actually been a double album).

thursday afternoon is excellent, btw. i think it accomplishes the same moods on the best stuff on airports a lot better.

Ya, I voted for Thursday Afternoon just to make things more even. Basinski fans who haven't yet should take note of that album.

my favorite was always Thursday, mainly because it was the longest, but also because I think it's the most complex his harmonies & feel for textures ever got while remaining subtle and ignorable -- though I loved them all, many of the other ones either get so busy that they'd distract me from studying, or stayed so simple that they'd numb me out if I tried to listen, and Thursday allowed either mode of listening. I would go back and forth between the 60 minute CD version and a cassette dub of the 80 minute video soundtrack version which seems to pick up exactly where the CD version fades away.

ambient 4 on land

Neroli is missing :(

Oh, I totally forgot (despite owning the DVD) that Thursday Afternoon is also a soundtrack. Hands down my favorite when accompanied by the film on a sideways television!

Neroli ain't bad either! Good call stephen.

i voted for music for airports. its a tough decision though, so many of these i love: on land, the pearl, thursday afternoon, discrete music, music for films. fourth world and the fripp ones are also very nice, i particularly dig "an index of metals" with fripp. eno is just so good when he does music like this.

that said, i HATE his "pop" records. i just cant imagine how he made both musics, one is so brilliant, the other is painfully bad.

Even Another Green World? I can't imagine liking all his ambient stuff & not liking that.

I voted for "The Pearl," because that's the one I come back to most often, but there are several on here, incl. "Discreet Music," "Music for Airports," and "Plateaux of Mirror" that I really love.

Am I the only one for whom "Ambient 4: On Land" has always seemed much more difficult than much of the rest of his ambient stuff.

There should be a "?" on the end of that.

His pop stuff does nothing for me but I like all his ambient material. I voted for Shutov because it's so strong and so underrated. The Drop is also underrated. Lots of people make warm, involving ambient music with analogue gear but not too many can do it with think, crystalline digital sounds - Brian Eno is a notable exception here, and he proves that it ain't what you use but who's using it.

I've only heard nine of these, but I'll always take Possible Musics--best Eno-related album of the '80s (not counting Remain in Light, of course)--over the rest any day of the week, and twice on sunday.

No Cluster & Eno, no cred

(and yes, I would have voted for After the Heat)

once on acid i had the most amazing auditory hallucinations while listening to music for airports. unforgettable experience.

Neroli ain't bad either!

It's not bad, it's awful. "Discreet Music" wins for the title track alone.

Neroli is great.

His pop stuff does nothing for me but I like all his ambient material. I voted for Shutov because it's so strong and so underrated. The Drop is also underrated. Lots of people make warm, involving ambient music with analogue gear but not too many can do it with think, crystalline digital sounds - Brian Eno is a notable exception here, and he proves that it ain't what you use but who's using it.

I had heard Shutov Assembly was the best of his later ambient material, and when I heard it, it just felt like him imitating On Land (I'm sure the digital mix had something to do with that for me). I do remember liking one of the longer tracks, though.

Automatic thread bump. This poll is closing tomorrow.

Discreet Music

Fourth World, Vol. 1: Possible Musics - my fave Eno-related project

Automatic thread bump. This poll's results are now in.

I don't like any of these albums, and wish Eno had stayed with pop albums.

U CRZY ^^^^^

i've got into this weird routine recently of having to blast out the last track from music for airports really loud first thing after i wake up

has to be the most beautiful music ever made. feels like i won the 200 metres and this is the music they're playing during the slow motion replay

Discreet Music (along with the Fripp/Eno Evening Star is being performed by CONTACT Contemporary Music at the Huddersfield Contemporary Music Festivsl this year (on 21/11). I've never heard any of Eno's ambient stuff done live so would love to get up there for this.

Details - http://www.hcmf.co.uk/event/show/161